Global carbon dioxide emissions rose 3 percent to 34 billion tonnes in 2011, undermining the goal to limit the rise in global average temperatures to 2C above industrial levels by 2050, according to a new report published by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
According to the report, nations cannot emit more than 1.500 trillion tonnes of CO2 between 2000 and 2050 to meet the threshold recommended by a U.N. panel on climate change (IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
The study said 420 million metric tons (463 million tons) have already been pumped into the atmosphere since the turn of the century.
The EU accounts for 11 percent, India 6 percent, Russia 5 percent and Japan 4 percent. The U.S. represents 16 percent of total global emissions.
China's emissions increased 9 percent to reach a total of 9.7 billion tonnes. China surpassed the U.S. as the world's biggest of emitter of carbon dioxide in 2009, and now represents 29 percent of global emissions. Soaring emissions in China, the world's second biggest economy, means the country's per capita emissions now have reached 7.2 tonnes, higher than EU nations such as France, Italy and Spain.
Beijing has set itself a target of reducing its CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, but its rapid economic growth means the country's emissions continue to skyrocket in absolute terms.
However, Australia remains the world's biggest emitter of CO2 emissions per capita among major nations at 19 tonnes, followed by the U.S. at 17.3 tonnes and Saudi Arabia at 16.5.
You can read the report here.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) organizes the International Labour Conference (ILC) annually. Among other agenda items, general discussion at the 102nd session will take place on "Sustainable development, decent work and green jobs
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food called for the post-2015 development agenda to be urgently refocused on equality, social protection and accountability, as the efforts of the UN Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals to draft post-2015 targets to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) entered a crucial phase.
The world’s leading retail labels commit to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh before the midnight deadline. The Accord now covers more than 1000 Bangladeshi garment factories. Implementation starts now!
Many of the major companies file their sustainability reports without conscience. And their approach to the workers whose labour fuels their profits is criminal.Ask any CEO if they would like their sons or daughters to work in the textile factories in Pakistan, the mines in the Congo, manufacturing plants in Central America, or as beer women in Cambodia, and they shudder.
The decision was adopted in response to EU Commission consultation on unconventional fossil fuels in Europe
